Revisions, supplements to 2015 Penal Code submitted for consideration

Hanoi (VNA) – A draft law on amendments and supplements to the 2015 Penal Code were submitted to the 14th National Assembly (NA) for consideration on October 21 morning during the parliament’s second session.

Speaking at the plenum, Minister of Justice Le Thanh Long said the Penal Code No. 100/2015/QH13 was approved by the 13th NA at its 10th session on November 27, 2015. It was scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2016.

However, while implementing the 13th NA’s Resolution No. 109/2015/QH13 on enforcing this Code, relevant agencies found some technical errors and certain regulations that are unsuitable or inapplicable. On June 29, 2016, the 13th parliament issued a resolution on delaying the enforcement of the 2015 Penal Code and three other relevant laws.

The proposed draft law aims to revise all technical errors and inapplicable regulations in the 2015 Penal Code so as to ensure the consistency and logicality among its regulations and in the legal system while protecting rights and legitimate interests of organisations and individuals, Long said.

The proposed revisions and supplements relate to 141 articles, including 38 articles with technical mistakes and 102 others with content problems. One article is suggested be abolished, he added.

In a report verifying the draft, the NA’s Committee for Judicial Affairs agreed with the necessity of issuing a law amending and supplementing some articles of the 2015 Penal Code.

Almost all members of the committee asked the legislature to scrutinise the draft law in this second session and approve it in the next sitting due to the draft’s wide coverage and different viewpoints of relevant ministries.

They also shared the Government’s point of view that the amendment must not affect major policies already approved by the 13th NA and not lead to the revision of the laws with their enforcement delayed at the same time with the 2015 Penal Code.

The Committee also asked for this time’s amendment covering all mistakes so that no more errors can be found after the draft law comes into force. It is also necessary to revise regulations that may cause varying ways of application and have content that is unclear or contradicts specialised laws.

After the draft law was submitted, NA deputies worked in groups to discuss it.-VNA